In Episode 28 of The World War II Daily Podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Katie S. Sanders, an award-winning journalist, podcast producer, and co-author of the remarkable new book, Ortiz’s War.

Katie has built an impressive career telling compelling stories for some of the world’s most respected publications, including National Geographic, The New York Times, TIME, Smithsonian, Vanity Fair, and The Washington Post Magazine.

Her reporting has taken her into places few journalists ever get to see, from the CIA and the White House to the homes of World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors.

But her connection to the Second World War is also deeply personal.

Katie discovered that her late grandfather, a Jewish-American pilot who was shot down over France before D-Day, had been rescued by one of the most extraordinary figures of the war: OSS Marine Colonel Peter Ortiz.

That discovery set Katie on a remarkable journey. Together with historian and retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Nicholas Reynolds, she set out to uncover and chronicle the story of the man who had saved her grandfather.

The result is Ortiz’s War, an extraordinary account of a warrior whose life seems almost too incredible to be true.

Peter Ortiz parachuted into Nazi-occupied France, worked alongside the French Resistance, helped rescue Allied airmen, evaded the Gestapo, and endured horrific imprisonment. His wartime story is one of courage, survival, and an extraordinary commitment to the fight against Nazi Germany.

In this episode, Katie and I discuss her fascinating career, the deeply personal discovery that connected her family to Peter Ortiz, the research behind Ortiz’s War, and the incredible life and legacy of the man they describe as one of America’s most remarkable warriors.

It was a fascinating conversation, and I’m very excited for you to hear it.
Click here and buy now Ortiz's War Book

Follow: @katiessander and @ortizswarbook

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